Government to devolve some spending out to the regions

THE GOVERNMENT is expected to devolve potentially billions of pounds of public spending to local authorities and businesses in Britain, as part of Lord Heseltine’s plan to boost growth throughout the country.

The coalition has approved almost all the recommendations drawn up by Heseltine, a former Tory deputy prime minister.

The scheme will see public money for projects such as housing and transport, now controlled by various government departments, pooled into a single pot from 2015.

The amount of money to be allocated to the new so-called single local growth fund will be decided in the spending review this June. Regional groupings of local authorities and businesses – known as local enterprise partnerships ­– will bid for the funds and, if successful, oversee how they are spent.

Heseltine had said shifting public spending away from central government would make the UK more competitive.